Improvement in telegraph-keys



c W. L- EWIS." TELEGRAPH-KEYS. No.177.356. Patehtetf Ma 23,1876.

MPETERS, FHOTO-LITHOGRAPMER. WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT ersion.-

CHARLES W. Lewis, on CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, Assienonrotrnn WESTERN ntncrnlc MANUFACTURING COMPANY, or SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN TELEGRAPH-KEYS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 177,856, dated May 23, 1676; app ication filed January 29, 1876 To all whom it may concern a Be it known thatI, CHARLES W. Lnwrs, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Telegraph-Keys and I do hereby declare the following to be'a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which my in- I tion taken on the line w 00.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts.

. The object of my invention is to improve the construction of telegraph-keys so as to render them less liable to get out of order, and to admit of attaching the binding-posts directly to the base of the instrument above the table.

'To that end, my invention consists in the arrangement of the several parts of the instru-' ment, as will be more fully understood from the following description and claims.

In the drawing, A represents the base of the instrument, to which the operating parts are secured. This base is provided with a de pending flange, a, adapted to rest upon the table and extending around the base, forming a chamber, A, to receive the screw-heads connecting the operating parts to the upper sur-. face of the base,thereby preventing the screw heads from coming in contact with the table.

B is the key-lever, mounted upon a trunnionshaft, 0, journaled in the upright posts D D. The posts D D are firmly secured to the base A by screws m passingiupward through the base into the ends of the posts, and which so connect theposts to the base as to allow them to be adjusted to the journals of the trunnion without. the employment of set-screws, and

are, consequently, less liable to become loosened by the jar of the lever.

G is the anvil, which is permanently secured to the base by means of bolt (1 and insulatingcollar (2, as shown in Fig. 3, F and F are binding-posts, securedto the base on opposite sides of the lever B, the post F being in.- sulated from the base by a non-conducting collar, 6, as shown in Fig. 4. J is a connecting-plate, attached at one end to the bindingpost F, and at the other end to bolt 61 of the anvil, and is insulated from the base by a nonconducting strap, I, arranged between it and the base, as shown in Fig. 3. O is the circuitconnecting lever, fulcrumed at one end upon a screw-bolt, K, passing through the base and forming the back stop. for the key-lever B. H 'is a convex spring-washer, arranged upon bolt K between lever G and the base. The tension'of this washer is-such as to com press the lever firmlyagainst the head of bolt K, thereby producing the requisite friction to 7 hold the lever at any desired or adjusted point, and so as to prevent the lever from being displaced by the ordinary jar of the instrument while being operated.

Permanently secured within the lower surface of the key-leveris a pin, f, adapted to engage a like pin, f, permanently securedin the anvil-face. I

m is an adjusting-spring arranged between the base and the key-lever, and secured in position by means of an adjusting screw, m. This spring acts to lift the key-lever when not positively acted upon, thereby disengaging pin f from pin j" of the anvil.

L is a compression-spring, located on the base immediately under the insulating-collar d, and projecting outward slightly beyond the lip of the anvil. The arrangement of this cuit-closing lever to pass between it and the lip of the anvil, and to hold the lever firmly in contact with the lip when so adjusted. M

which are secured to the binding-posts F and F in the usual manner. 7

It will be observed that the ends of the I trunnion shaftsupporting the key-lever are, arejournaled within the posts D D, the object of which is to prevent the ends of the shaft from being loosened by the jar of the lever, or by improper manipulation, and allow-the lever to rock, as is the case in telegraph-keys spring is such as to yield and allowthe cir and M are the Wires of the main or local line,

wherein the ends of the shaft are pivoted in the end of adjusting-screws affixed. to the posts in the ordinary manner.

The operation of my invention is as follows: When the circuit-closing lever O is moved from contact with anvil Gr,.the circuit will be broken and the current will pass from Wire M through bindingpost F and plate J to the anvil, and from thence through key-lever B, base A, binding-post-F, to wire M, when the circuit is closed by the contact of the key-lever with the anvil. When the circuit-closing lever C is moved in contact with the anvil, the circuit will be closed, and the current will pass from the wire M through binding-post F, plate J, anvil G, lever 0, base A, and binding-post F, to M.

Having thus described the nature and objeet of my invention, what I claimas new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The base A, provided with the chamber A to receive the screw-heads connecting the operating parts to the base, substantially as and for the purpose specified;

specified.

CHARLES W. LEWIS.

Witnesses: I

' N. O. GRIDLEY,

N. H. SHERBURNE. 

